Bulgaria coach Krasimir Balakov stepped down from his role yesterday, four days after home fans subjected England’s black players with racist abuse during a Euro 2020 qualifier in Sofia. The 53-year-old was in charge of the team in the 6-0 defeat by England on Monday when some of the suppaorters taunted the visitors with Nazi salutes and monkey chants, prompting match officials to halt the game twice.
The Bulgarian Football Union (BFU), however, said in a statement Balakov had resigned due to the team’s recent run of unsatisfactory performances and that the executive committee had accepted it.
“My decision to step down has nothing to do with Prime Minister (Boyko) Borissov asking for my resignation the day after the game against England. My patience is over,” Balakov was quoted as saying by Sky Sports. “We did what we had to do regarding the security during the game against England. Bulgaria is not a racist country.”
Balakov had said after the game he had not heard any racist abuse from the stands but apologised to the England team for the fans’ behaviour in an e-mail to reporters late on Tuesday. BFU president Borislav Mihaylov has also resigned and police in the country have made 16 arrests so far. Yesterday, five more Bulgarian football fans were detained for taking part in racist abuse against England, the interior ministry announced. Police have now identified 16 people suspected of being involved in the racist abuse, the ministry said. “Five more men implicated in the abusive actions were detained this morning... Police continues work to track down five more to detain them,” the ministry said.
A Bulgarian teenager was already indicted Wednesday for “grave hooliganism”, risking a jail sentence of up to five years, while five others, including one who is underage, were handed fines and bans from sports events.
Monday’s game was halted twice during the first half due to the abuse but England players decided to complete the match instead of walking off the pitch. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his Bulgarian counterpart Boyko Borisov alike condemned the incident.
UEFA has opened disciplinary procedures against both Bulgaria and England for their fans’ behaviour during the game. FIFA president Gianni Infantino also pressed Thursday for a worldwide ban on spectators who abuse black footballers.
A total of 48 football fans have been subjected to one or two year bans from attending sports events in Bulgaria and abroad, fines and community work since the beginning of this year, the EU member’s police statistics show.
.
